Study for an Illustration for 'Romola': 'The Visible Madonna', Composition

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Drawing details

Title: Study for an Illustration for 'Romola': 'The Visible Madonna', Composition
Date: c.1862
Media: Pencil on tracing paper
Dimensions: 16.6 x 10.3 cm
Location: Royal Academy of Arts, London
Picture credit: Royal Academy of Arts, London
Reference number: 04/1122
Inscriptions: Inscribed lower right "No 42a" in pencil.

Interpretation

This scene shows the character Romola helping a group of children who have taken shelter in her courtyard during a famine. This scene was engraved by Joseph Swain and published in Volume 7 (opposite p.281) of the 'Cornhill Magazine'.

Description

Traced study for the composition of the illustration 'The Visible Madonna' for 'Romola' (first published in parts in the 'Cornhill Magazine', July 1862 to August 1863). The tracing is very close to the finished illustration, although in the latter the two children on the far left are more lightly drawn. 

Provenance

Bequeathed by the artist to his sisters, Mrs. Augusta Matthews (nTe Augusta Neunburg Leighton, 1835-1919) and Mrs. Alexandra Orr (nTe Alexandra Leighton, 1828-1903); presented to the Royal Academy of Arts, London by Matthews and Orr in 1896